A relatively simple and easily installed transfer unit is disclosed employing a movable cartridge bin assembly which travels horizontally between two or more cabinets of respective tape cartridge library systems, to enable the expansion of individual library systems thereby increasing overall mass storage system capacity. The bin assembly is presented to a typical cartridge handling robot of respective library systems as if it were part of the stationary bin array housed within the cabinet, which allows the cartridge to be accessed and loaded in a constant orientation. A drive means provides the translation of the bin assembly and cartridge, and depots at preset stop locations include sensor means for indicating the location of the bin assembly and the presence of a cartridge in the bin assembly.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. Apparatus for transferring tape cartridges between distinct tape cartridge. library systems each having respective stationary cartridge bin arrays and cartridge handling robots, comprising: support means extending between two or more of the library systems; a movable bin assembly slidably supported by said support means for horizontal translation of the cartridges between the library systems; drive means including a motor secured to the support means for bidirectionally translating the bin assembly with or without a cartridge along the support means; and stop locations disposed along the support means and positioned in each library system, said bin assembly being translatable to a selected stop location to allow a respective cartridge handling robot to access the bin assembly.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said bin assembly maintains a constant orientation relative to the library systems and thus relative to the stationary bin arrays such that the cartridges are retrieved, transported and loaded in a constant orientation with respect to the stationary bin arrays and the movable bin assembly.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein: the support means include an elongated shaft extending between two or more library systems; and the bin assembly includes bearing means slidably supported on the elongated shaft.
4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein: the support means further include an elongated base channel having a guide channel and extending into and/or through the one or more library systems; said elongated shaft being supported by the base channel; and said bin assembly including guide roller means which run within the guide channel to prevent tipping of the bin assembly.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 including: transfer processor means for controlling the movements of the bin assembly between library systems while coordinating the movements of the bin assembly with a cartridge handling robot in each library system.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein: the stop locations include depots having sensor means for detecting the presence of the bin assembly at a depot and of a cartridge in the bin assembly; and said sensor means of each depot being coupled to the transfer processor means.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the drive means include a cable drum secured to the support means and rotated by the motor, and a cable attached at first and second ends to the bin assembly with a portion of the cable wrapped several times about the cable drum such that selected rotation of the cable drum causes the bidirectional translation of the bin assembly.
8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein: the support means include an elongated base channel; the cable drum and motor are secured to one end of the base channel; said drive means include turnaround pulley means rotatably secured to the opposite end of the base channel; wherein the first cable end extends from the bin assembly to wrap several wraps about the cable drum, extends back under the bin assembly to pass around the turnaround pulley means, whereupon the second cable end is secured to the bin assembly; and tensioning means coupled between the first and second cable ends to maintain the cable under tension.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: the stop locations comprise depots located at each stop location and including sensor means for detecting the presence of the bin assembly at a depot and the presence or absence of a cartridge in the bin assembly.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the support means extend from a first depot in a first library system to a second depot in a second library system, wherein the first and second depots are located within the respective library systems so that the bin assembly is accessible to the respective cartridge handling robot when stopped at the respective depot, with transfer of the cartridge between the bin assembly and a stationary cartridge bin arrays in a constant orientation.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the support means extend from a first depot in a first library system to a second depot in a second library system by way of a third depot in a third library system, wherein the first, second and third depots are located within the respective library systems so that the bin assembly is accessible to the respective cartridge handling robot when stopped at the respective depot, with transfer of the cartridge between the bin assembly and a stationary cartridge bin array in a constant orientation.
12. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the support means extend from a first depot in a first library system to a second depot in a second library system by way of a third and fourth depot in a third and fourth library system, wherein the first, second, third and fourth depots are located within the respective library systems so that the bin assembly is accessible to the respective cartridge handling robot when stopped at the respective depot, with transfer of the cartridge between the bin assembly and a stationary cartridge bin array in a constant orientation.
13. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein: the sensor means include a bin flag on the bin assembly and a bin flag sensor located at a depot for detecting the presence of the bin flag, and a cartridge flag in the bin assembly and a cartridge flag sensor located at the depot for detecting the presence or absence of the cartridge flag.
14. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the sensor means includes an optical sensor/LED device.
15. The apparatus of claim 9 further including: a transfer processor unit for supplying electrical power to the motor, controlling the movements of the bin assembly in coordination with one or more cartridge handling robots and for monitoring the sensor means of each depot and thus the location of the bin assembly and presence of a cartridge.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the transfer processor unit includes: a transfer servo unit for controlling the movement of the bin assembly and the associated movement of one or more cartridge handling robots; and a status control panel for displaying the location of the bin assembly with respect to the library systems and the presence of a cartridge in the bin assembly.
17. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said movable bin assembly includes dual bins for handling two cartridges simultaneously and including sensor means for detecting the presence or absence of a cartridge in each bin of the dual bin assembly as well as the presence of the dual bin assembly at a respective depot.
18. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein: said support means, movable bin assembly, drive means and stop locations comprise a first transfer unit extending between a first plurality of the distinct tape cartridge library systems; said apparatus including a second transfer unit of similar components abutted end-to-end with the first transfer unit within a common library system and extending from the common library system to one or more library systems of a second plurality of distinct library systems; and wherein said first and second transfer units each include a stop location within the common library system which are accessible to the respective cartridge handling robot which transfers the cartridge between the transfer units.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein additional transfer units are abutted end-to-end with the second transfer unit to provide interconnection of additional pluralities of library systems.
20. The apparatus of claim 18 including: control means integral with respective transfer units for coordinating the translation of a respective movable bin assembly with the movement of the cartridge handling robots of respective library systems.
21. The apparatus of claim 20 including: sensing devices located at respective stop locations for informing the control means of the presence of a movable bin assembly and of the presence of the cartridge in the bin assembly.
22. Apparatus for transferring tape cartridges between selected numbers of tape cartridge library systems having respective stationary cartridge bin arrays and cartridge handling robots, comprising: a movable bin assembly translatably supported for essentially horizontal movement with respect to two or more of the library systems; stop locations positioned along the essentially horizontal movement of the bin assembly and preset within each library system; drive means coupled to the bin assembly for imparting the essentially horizontal movement thereto; and a control circuit operatively coupled to the movable bin assembly and the stop locations for controlling the essentially horizontal movement of the bin assembly via the drive means as well as coordinating the movement of one or more cartridge handling robots, to effect the transfer of the cartridge between the two or more library systems.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein the drive means includes: a motor driven cable drum; and a cable secured to the movable bin assembly and translatable along with the bin assembly via the cable drum to effect the horizontal movement and thus the transfer of the cartridge between library systems.
24. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein: the control circuit includes a transfer processor unit; and the stop locations include a depot having sensing means operatively coupled to the transfer processor unit for detecting the presence at a depot of the bin assembly and the presence or absence of a cartridge in the bin assembly.
25. The apparatus of claim 22 including: a support structure extending between library systems for slidably supporting the movable bin assembly; and said support structure including the stop locations in the form of depots having respective sensing means for detecting the presence of the bin assembly and the presence or absence of a cartridge therein at a respective depot.
26. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein: said movable bin assembly includes dual bins for handling two cartridges simultaneously; and said stop locations each include sensing means for informing the control circuit of the presence of the dual bin assembly at a respective stop location and the presence or absence of a cartridge in the dual bins of the dual bin assembly.
27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein the dual bin assembly enables the apparatus to receive a cartridge from a respective cartridge handling robot at the same time that a second cartridge is delivered to the same cartridge handling robot for storage or use in the respective library system.
28. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein: said movable bin assembly, drive means and stop locations comprise a first transfer unit extending between a first plurality of the tape cartridge library systems; said apparatus including a second transfer unit of similar components abutted end-to-end with the first transfer unit within a common library system and extending therefrom to one or more library systems of a second plurality of library systems; and wherein said first and second transfer units each include a stop location within the common library system which are accessible to a respective cartridge handling robot to allow the robot to transfer the cartridge between the transfer units.
29. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein additional transfer units are abutted end-to-end with the second transfer unit to add additional pluralities of library systems.
30. The apparatus of claim 22 wherein: the stop locations include sensing devices for informing the control circuit of the presence of the bin assembly at a respective stop location and the presence of the cartridge in the movable bin assembly.
31. A method of transferring tape cartridges between a selected plurality of tape cartridge library systems having respective stationary cartridge bin arrays and cartridge handling robots, comprising: providing transfer means including a supporting base channel for a movable bin assembly which extends horizontally between and/or through two or more of the plurality of library systems; establishing stop locations along the transfer means with at least one stop location positioned within each library system; providing a command directing the transfer of the movable bin assembly with or without a selected cartridge from one library system to another library system; enabling the transfer of the movable bin assembly in response to the command; and monitoring the movement of the movable bin assembly between the two or more library systems and of the presence or absence of the cartridge at a specific stop location.
32. The method of claim 31 wherein providing the command and enabling the transfer include directing the movable bin assembly to carry the cartridge, wherein the cartridge is retrieved, transported and loaded in a constant orientation with respect to the stationary cartridge bin arrays and the movable bin assembly.
33. The method of claim 31 including: installing second transfer means abutted end-to-end with the first transfer means within a common library system and extending therefrom to one or more additional library systems; establishing stop locations along the second transfer means, with a stop location located in the common library system; and enabling the transfer of the selected cartridge between the first and second transfer means via a respective cartridge handling robot of the common library system.
34. A method of transferring a tape cartridge between two or more individual tape cartridge library systems, wherein each individual library system has a respective stationary cartridge bin array and a cartridge handling robot, comprising: slidably supporting a movable bin assembly for horizontal translation along a path from an individual library system to, or through, two or more individual library systems; establishing a depot corresponding to a stop location along the path with at least one depot positioned within each library system; directing a cartridge handling robot of an individual library system to load a selected cartridge into the movable bin assembly; enabling the transfer of the selected cartridge within the movable bin assembly from a depot in an individual library system to a depot in another individual library system while maintaining the orientation of the cartridge constant; and directing a cartridge handling robot of said another individual library system to retrieve the selected cartridge from the movable bin assembly to accomplish the transfer of the selected cartridge.
35. The method of claim 34 including: slidably supporting a second movable bin assembly for translation along a second path abutting end-to-end with the first path within a common library system; establishing a second depot in the abutted end of the second path within the common library system; and enabling the transfer of the selected cartridge between the first and second movable bin assemblies via a respective cartridge handling robot of the common library system.
36. The method of claim 35 wherein the selected cartridge is retrieved and loaded in a constant orientation with respect to the stationary cartridge bin arrays and the movable bin assemblies.
37. Apparatus for transferring a tape cartridge between selected pluralities of tape cartridge library systems, each library system having a respective stationary cartridge bin array and a cartridge handling robot, comprising: a first transfer unit extending between one library system and one or more library systems; said first transfer unit including a first movable bin assembly translatable between said one and said one or more library systems, and a depot corresponding to a preset stop location positioned in each of said library systems; a second transfer unit having a second movable bin assembly and extending from said one or more library systems to at least one additional library system, said second transfer unit abutting end-to-end with the first transfer unit within a common library system of the one or more library systems and including a second depot positioned in the common library system; and a control circuit operatively coupled to each respective movable bin assembly and depots of each transfer unit for transferring a selected cartridge between library systems of the first or second transfer units, and for transferring the selected cartridge from the first movable bin assembly in the first transfer unit to the second bin assembly in the second transfer unit via the respective depots and the cartridge handling robot in the common library system, to effect the transfer of the cartridge between selected library systems and/or between the selected pluralities of library systems.
38. The apparatus of claim 37 wherein each abutted transfer unit further includes: support means for slidably supporting the respective movable bin assembly between library systems; drive means including a motor secured to the support means for translating the movable bin assembly from depot to depot in respective library systems; and sensing means located at each depot for informing the control means of the presence of the movable bin assembly at a respective depot and the presence of selected cartridge in the bin assembly so that the control means coordinates the movement of the respective cartridge handling robot with the translation of the movable bin assembly to effect transfer of the selected cartridge between library systems and also between abutted transfer units.
39. The apparatus of claim 38 wherein the cartridge is retrieved and loaded in a constant orientation with respect to the stationary cartridge bin arrays and the movable bin assemblies.
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April 16, 1999
August 20, 2002
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